Loudon City officials make managerial decisions

Alyssa B. Martin news-herald.net

Loudon City Council and the Loudon Utility Board met last Monday, May 13, with the intent being to discuss manager candidates. However, in the end, they chose to invite two new candidates to interview in July.

The meeting was the shortest to date while discussing the manager search at only 15 minutes. The manager search process began late last year and has averaged at least one special meeting a month since.

Each respective city and utility representative was asked to provide the names of two candidates they thought would be ideal for the position. They reviewed the resumés that were provided by the previously engaged hiring agency.

All obliged except for Vice Mayor Tim Dixon and LUB Director Carlie McEachern, who both stated they only found one candidate in the mix to be up to their standards. For McEachern, it was Scott Meszaros … and for Dixon, it was a familiar name to the monthslong manager search — Thomas McCormick.

Mayor Jeff Harris chose to withhold from providing a recommendation due to his previous conflict of interest but said once the interview process begins, he will give his honest feedback in the matter.

At the Utility Board and City Council meetings in late April, when the decision to have another joint meeting was made, City Council member James “Bear” Webb was hospitalized in Florida. While thankful for a full, healthy recovery, Webb also withheld a recommendation due to his inability to look over resumés between meetings while recovering.

For those following the manager search closely, all top four candidates’ names might sound familiar.

Meszaros, Timothy Ibisch, McCormick and Michael Morris made it to the list of the top six candidates earlier this year. During this selection round, however, Meszaros and Ibisch received the most votes.

Representatives agreed, out of fairness to other candidates, McCormick will not be invited back for a second in-person interview. Mayor Harris said in a phone interview with The News-Herald that McCormick is still in the candidate mix, and it’s possible his name will come up once again.

While the previous interviews and meetings didn’t deliver the outcome many were expecting and hoping for, LUB Chair Don Campbell said the previous interview process was very valuable and will ultimately help throughout the candidate process.

“I think we learned some things about all of them that we didn’t get on the interview on the video,” Campbell said.

On Tuesday, June 4, community members are welcome and invited to attend the special joint meeting and open interview at 10 a.m. in Loudon City Hall.

While there likely won’t be an opportunity for attendees to ask questions during the process, attendees will have the opportunity to meet Meszaros.

Due to prior engagements and responsibilities, Ibisch is unable to interview in-person, but a Zoom interview is expected to be conducted.